Selected sociological interventions and students’ participation in schooling in public secondary schools in Meru county, Kenya

Abstract

Participation of students in schooling is an essential contributor to the success of education process in which students are the beneficiaries. It enhances students’ active involvement in educational activities like co-curricular activities, school attendance and classroom engagement. levels of learner participation in schooling have been directly associated with effectiveness of various interventions by stakeholders. Ineffectiveness of these interventions have occasionally been blamed for low participation of students in curricular and co-curricular activities at different levels particularly in public secondary schools of Meru County, Kenya. This means that most learners transiting schooling may not only continue to lose out in various academic related fields but also in skill related areas. This study therefore sought to assess the effectiveness of selected sociological interventions on students' participation in schooling in public secondary schools within Meru County, Kenya with an intent to find out how sociological interventions affect students' participation in schooling. The study focused on parental involvement, social support programs, economic support programs, and community school infrastructural programs seeking to provide insights on their effectiveness in relation to students’ participation. The research adopted a mixed-methods approach, combining both descriptive and correlational research approaches to gather quantitative and qualitative data. The study sampled 331 respondents from 1,903 participants consisting of Principals, chairpersons of the Parent Association, Constituency Development Fund Managers, class teachers, and student leaders from the study area using purposive and stratified random sampling. Data was gathered through semistructured interviews, self-report questionnaires and focus group discussions. The validity of the instruments was determined by evaluating them from the perspectives of face, content, and construct validity. Data collection instruments underwent pretesting using Cronbach's Alpha, with a threshold of 0.7 and above considered acceptable based on data obtained from a pilot study conducted in Tharaka Nithi County. Qualitative data was subjected to thematic analysis, while quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 27.0 computer software. The study variables were described using descriptive statistics, which included frequency and percentages while inferential analysis was based on Chi-square test. Findings illustrated below average extent of parental involvement, below average access to social support programs, very low levels of ready access to economic support programs and below average extent of community school infrastructural support programs. Additionally, it was illustrated that parental involvement, social support programs, economic support programs and community school infrastructure support are significant in facilitating student participation in schooling. It is therefore recommended that more effort be put in place to enhance public secondary schools’ access to parental involvement, social support programs, economic support programs and community school infrastructure support interventions in an attempt to enhance students’ participation in schooling. Specifically, schools’ Board of Management in collaboration with school management should put strategies to enhance parental involvement, improve social support programs for schools, enhance access to economic support programs to schools and put in place strategies that can enhance sustainable community school infrastructural support programs.